VIEWS FROM WEST PID

What fires up our imaginations to write and draw stories for this dog blog? Everything and anything, really. Read on…

Muttplex Movies Review:

Unfortunately, Westley Piddle doesn’t have a cinema, cineplex, or multiplex…only a Muttplex. But it’s showing some great (and not so great) movies…

🐾🐾🐾🐾 = as good as it gets on the subject.  Drop everything, , sniff out, scramble to catch up and ‘watch NOWS’!

🐾🐾🐾 = entertaining or informative.  Worth putting on your short-watch list.

🐾🐾 = Average entertainment, will pass casual viewing time but does not exceed expectations – even modest ones. Ultimately forgettable.

🐾 = Seriously! There are many far better movies out there on this subject. Don’t bother unless it’s a rainy afternoon with absolutely nothing better to do.

This week at the Muttplex for muttwits wot lyk sniffing out new movies, two misplaced gems from 2020, and one lump of fool’s gold.

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Underwater (2020) – directed by William Eubank

Underwater: An unknown, massive earthquake happens in a drilling station in the bottom of the Marianna Trench. A scientific crew must find their way across the ocean floor into another station under the threats of deep pressure, dark water, dangerous deep-sea creatures, and a constant lack of oxygen.  (courtesy IMDb)

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My take: An immersive (and submersive) bone-crunching adventure that takes place deep beneath the ocean leaps straight into the action without frivolous backstory or extraneous/tedious character development.  Good move!  This film is action from the first frame onwards – not letting up for its 136 minute time run.  Personally, I loved it.  A cross between Alien (storyline, production and  cinema photography – but in deep water, not deep space), and the Poseidon Adventure (paw-biting suspense and  superb SFX).  It was not a hit with either critics of public – probably because it doesn’t pander to sentimentality or Hollywood stereo-types.  But I loved it. For sheer adventure in a place close to home but where none of us will ever venture – snifz it out!

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Wolfwalkers (2020) – directed by Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart  

Wolfwalkers: A young apprentice hunter and her father journey to Ireland to help wipe out the last wolf pack. But everything changes when she befriends a free-spirited girl from a mysterious tribe rumored to transform into wolves by night. (courtesy IMDb)

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My take:  I Steeped in earth magic and ancient lore Tomm Moore animated feature is drawn in good old fashioned, old school 2D stop-frame animation. Not yer 3D Pixarlated poop – and it works all the better for the added imagination the audience need bring to the story! Totally mesmerizing and with many messages brimming to burst out just below the surface that all the family can related to.  An altogether lovely gem that needs to be seen.

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An American Pickle (2020) –  directed by Brandon Trost

An American Pickle: A simple Jewish man named Herschel Greenbaum works in a pickle factory in Brooklyn. One day he falls into a vat of brine and stays there, perfectly preserved, for 100 years. He comes back to life and goes to stay with his great-great-grandson, Ben, in contemporary Brooklyn. (courtesy IMDb)

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My take: an intriguing premise is let down by a fast and briny slide into mawkish sentimentality and the Jewish shtetl way of life. There are a few funny moments at the beginning but the movie quickly runs out of ideas and pacing – although you would think that a 19^th century polish peasant ditch-digger suddenly abruptly transported into the present day [and convinced the Cossacks are still after him) would offer a rich vein of comedic gold?! Well, it don’t.

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Snifz yuz next week!